student, musician, gymnast, baker

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow I’ll be starting my senior year of high school. Preparing for it hasn’t left much time for me to do anything else, but I’m trying to squeeze in my last moments of summer before I go off to school tomorrow morning. I’ve already done the summer assignments, gotten new school supplies, and most importantly, spent some time relaxing by the pool and soaking up the sun before I basically go into hibernation before audition season starts.

One of the things I’m most excited for this year is starting up at MSM again. This year, in addition to taking the regular schedule of ear training, theory, a lesson and orchestra, I’ll be in 2 chamber groups, which (if I haven’t mentioned before) is by far my favorite type of playing. I’ve already had a rehearsal with a wonderful piano quintet that I get to be a part of this year, but I can’t wait to be there again and surround myself with so many talented musicians.

In an effort to pretend that my summer is able to go on for longer, I’m sharing is incredible peach coffeecake recipe from the ever-so-trustworthy King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book (available on Amazon). It’s a quick cake, but especially during my lazy summer mornings, having a home baked good was truly appreciated. We even enjoyed it better the second day, as it became denser and slightly more hearty. Enjoy!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9-inch cake pans or one 9X13- inch pan.

Whisk together the flours and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Cream together the butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg, stopping afterwards to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, one third at a time, alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in the peaches until evenly distributed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Topping: Combine the butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small mixing bowl until evenly mixed. Sprinkle this mixture over the batter.

Bake according to the pan size (25-30 minutes for rounds, 30-35 for the 9 by 13) until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs.